LEI: 213800PMTT98U879SF45
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS
INSIDE INFORMATION
14 November 2024
HydrogenOne Capital Growth
plc
("HydrogenOne" or the "Company")
Portfolio Update -
HH2E
HydrogenOne, the first London-listed
fund investing in clean hydrogen for a positive environmental
impact, updates on HH2E AG ("HH2E"), a German green hydrogen
project developer.
Following the Company's announcement
on 8 November 2024, the local court of Berlin-Charlottenburg has
now approved the applications of HH2E and HH2E Werk Lubmin GmbH for
self-administration proceedings. HH2E has also appointed
restructuring experts to assist with the self-administration
process and to seek a buyer for the business.
HydrogenOne has invested a total of
£7 million in HH2E, valued in the 30 September 2024 unaudited
results at £11 million of NAV (8.4 pence per share, 8% of NAV).
HydrogenOne has an 11% shareholding in HH2E, with the remainder
held by funds managed by Foresight Group
("Foresight"), the founders and HH2E employees.
HH2E had been following a strategy
of investing in long lead-time equipment to prepare for the Final
Investment Decision ("FID") of its first project, at Lubmin, ahead
of securing bankable offtake agreement for the hydrogen production,
and at the same time seeking additional equity funding and bank
debt for the construction of the project. To this end, a total of
c. £59 million of shareholder loans had been provided to HH2E,
including c. £1 million from HydrogenOne.
On 7 November 2024, following a
prolonged external funding process without securing additional
investors, an investment proposal to provide further funding for
HH2E was not approved by Foresight funds, a development not
expected by HydrogenOne, prompting the Company's announcement on 8
November 2024. No recovery of the Company's investment is
anticipated through the insolvency process.
A number of individual hydrogen
production projects have seen delays and cancellations in 2024,
against the backdrop of evolving regulations and a challenging
funding environment. However, the board of directors of the Company
believes that the investment fundamentals for the hydrogen sector
remain positive. At the end of 2023, 1.4GW of green hydrogen was in
production worldwide. The International Energy Agency recently
updated expectations for green hydrogen capacity worldwide to
increase to 5GW this year, and that a further 20GW of green
hydrogen production has now reached Final Investment Decision
("FID").
In the UK, the new Labour government
has committed over £6 billion to fund hydrogen and related projects
in the recent Budget. In Germany, the Federal Network Agency
recently announced approval of a 9,040-kilometer core hydrogen
network, which is set to become Europe's largest hydrogen pipeline
system with a planned investment of €19 billion, targeting
completion by 2032.
HydrogenOne has a portfolio
comprising meaningful investments in six high-quality companies
that cover an array of supply chain and applications across the
hydrogen industry. These include electrolysis, fuel cell and
transportation equipment and clean flight innovation. These
companies delivered an
aggregate £75
million in total revenue
in the 12 months to 30
September 2024, an increase of 19% compared to the 12 months
to 30 September 2023.
Order books in these businesses reflect the on-going growth of the
clean hydrogen industry.
Following the recently announced
successful exit from Gen2 Energy, the Company expects to have
sufficient funding to meet its investment commitments and current
working capital requirements for at least 12 months. Four of
the six portfolio companies, or 71% of the NAV, have attracted
external equity funding in 2024, totalling £237 million. In
addition, portfolio companies have attracted £257 million of
non-dilutive grant funding and £96 million of committed debt in
2024. All of these factors support the Company's
valuation.
- Ends -
Notes
For further information, please
visit www.hydrogenonecapitalgrowthplc.com
or contact:
|
HydrogenOne Capital LLP
- Investment Adviser
|
+44 (0) 20 3830 8231
|
|
Dr. JJ Traynor
Richard Hulf
Eva Roberts
|
|
|
Barclays Bank PLC - Corporate
Broker
Dion Di Miceli
Stuart Muress
James Atkinson
|
+44 (0) 20 7623 2323
BarclaysInvestmentCompanies@barclays.com
|
|
|
|
|
Burson Buchanan - Public
Relations
Henry Harrison-Topham
Henry Wilson
Samuel Adams
|
+44 (0) 20 7466 5000
HGEN@buchanancomms.co.uk
|
About HydrogenOne:
HydrogenOne is the first
London-listed hydrogen fund investing in clean hydrogen for a
positive environmental impact. The Company was launched in 2021
with an investment objective to deliver an attractive level of
capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of hydrogen
and complementary hydrogen focussed assets. INEOS Energy is a
strategic investor in HydrogenOne. The Company is listed on the
London Stock Exchange's main market (ticker code: HGEN). The
Company is an Article 9 climate impact fund with an ESG policy
integrated in investment decisions and asset monitoring.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
This announcement does not
constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to
acquire or subscribe for, shares in the Company in any
jurisdiction. The distribution of this announcement outside the UK
may be restricted by law. No action has been taken by the Company
that would permit possession of this announcement in any
jurisdiction outside the UK where action for that purpose is
required. Persons outside the UK who come into possession of this
announcement should inform themselves about the distribution of
this announcement in their particular jurisdiction.
This announcement contains (or may
contain) certain forward-looking statements with respect to certain
of the Company's plans and/or the plans of one or more of its
investee companies or projects and their respective current goals
and expectations relating to their respective future financial
condition and performance and which involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. The Company cautions readers that no forward-
looking statement is a guarantee of future performance and that
actual results could differ materially from those contained in the
forward- looking statements.
This announcement contains inside
information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No
596/2014, as it forms part of UK domestic law ("MAR"). Upon
publication of this announcement, the inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain for the purposes of MAR. The
person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement
on behalf of the Company is HydrogenOne Capital LLP. HydrogenOne
Capital LLP (FRN: 954060) is an appointed representative of
Thornbridge Investment Management LLP (FRN: 713859) which is
authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct
Authority.